An estimated 300 state officials, local government leaders, heads
of private industry and other stakeholders from Alaska gathered
in Anchorage for the Pandemic Influenza Summit on Thursday, April
13. The goal of the summit, co-sponsored by the Alaska Department
of Health and Social Services and the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Service (HHS) , was to focus attention on the need
for Alaska's leaders to plan, prepare and respond in the event
of an influenza pandemic.

"A flu pandemic could
present particularly difficult challenges for Alaska because
our state depends on a transportation infrastructure and suppliers
far from our local communities for everything from medical supplies
to food items and heating oil," said Alaska Health and Social
Services Commissioner Karleen Jackson . " Pandemic planning
needs to address how schools, businesses, public agencies, faith-based
organizations and others participate in the event of a world-wide
outbreak."

Jackson explained that, unlike
a fire or earthquake, a pandemic would likely affect most American
cities all at once and would have a massive impact on the American
workforce and those who rely on it. She also underscored the
importance of ensuring that essential services, such as transportation,
utilities and communications, keep operating without interruption
during a possible pandemic.

In her brief address to the
gathering, Senator Lisa Murkowski emphasized the need for collaboration
between state and local governments. She entreated Alaska's entities
to form partnerships that would effectively bring more human
and financial resources to statewide preparedness efforts.

U.S. Health and Human Services
Deputy Secretary Alex Azar urged Alaska's leaders to consider
a flu pandemic as a real possibility and to start planning how
they will respond should it become a reality. He also told the
gathering that it would not be logistically possible for the
federal government to immediately assist states if a pandemic
were to occur. He suggested that as state and community leaders
plan for a pandemic, they assume that Alaska and its communities
will need to fend for themselves for the first three months of
a pandemic.

During the Summit, Jackson
and Azar signed an agreement that outlines the responsibilities
of federal and state governments. Under the agreement, HHS will
provide Alaska with technical guidance, funding and a supply
of antiviral drugs. In turn, Alaska agrees to develop a comprehensive
plan for responding to pandemic flu and hold exercises to test
its plan.

According to the state's Public
Health Director, Dr. Richard Mandsager, the federal government
has already contributed $650,000 to help Alaska's preparedness
efforts. The state unveiled its statewide pandemic influenza
preparedness plan last January and created a special web site
that offers the most up-to-date information about the state's
preparedness efforts. Mandsager added that beginning this month
and continuing through the summer, the state will hold training
sessions for key local services workers to learn how to prepare
their communities for a pandemic or other health-related disaster.

"Unlike preparing for
the usual kinds of disasters that face communities, pandemic
planning requires communities to look within to what expertise
and resources they have on hand to help themselves, without the
expectation that they will be rescued immediately," Dr.
Mandsager said.

Panel discussions on planning
and preparedness, and how that might differ in rural versus urban
settings, were held throughout the day.